Leading Sydney chef Darren Taylor was “7/10 drunk” at a Christmas party where he allegedly bit a woman and grabbed hers and another woman’s breasts, a court has heard.
The multi-award winning chef was described as “tipsy” and merry” by people at the restaurant, the court heard.
Asked by police prosecutor Matthew Eurell how drunk Mr Taylor seemed on a scale of 0 for sober and 10 for “passed out drunk”, two Bistro Rex staffers placed him at a “seven”.
Bistro Rex owner Peter Curcuruto and the restaurant’s assistant manager Rita Solita were giving evidence at a hearing for Mr Taylor, 60, on 11 charges including sexual touching.
Mr Taylor has pleaded not guilty to all charges which relate to two alleged female victims at the party at Potts Point in inner city Sydney on the evening of December 18 last year.
The court has heard Mr Taylor allegedly bit the arm of one of the women, leaving a bite mark and bruise which she later photographed.
One of the party’s attendees Ravilal Tamalg told the court that when Mr Taylor was leaving the bistro that night “he seemed like a drunk”.
“He had difficulty with walking … while people get drunk they don’t walk properly.”
Mr Tamalg said he observed Mr Taylor pull down or try to pull down the shoulder straps of the outfit that one of the two alleged women victims was wearing.
“I just see him pulling hard on the strap,” Mr Tamalg said.
Asked by Phillip Strickland, SC, for Mr Taylor, if he had been drunk himself when he made his observations, Mr Tamalg said he hadn’t been drunk, although he was with someone who was.
The court heard earlier that Ms Solita had ordered Mr Tamalg and another man, Roshan Shrestha, be refused service of alcohol during the party dinner.
Mr Tamalg said he was “properly fine” after a bottle of beer, a glass of champagne and two shots of whisky, and he agreed he had later seen Mr Shrestha vomiting.
Asked whether he had seen Mr Taylor biting a woman’s arm for up to 30 seconds, or grabbing her breasts and saying “I love squeezing them”, telling her “you are a sook” or making a scene, he said no.
Mr Strickland asked the other witnesses, Mr Shrestha, Mr Curcuruto and Ms Solita the same questions, to which they each replied “no” to all the questions.
The court heard that Mr Taylor liked to pinch people’s upper arms, but that it was not violent or a grabbing motion.
“Pinching is just like … trying to make some joke,” Mr Shrestha said.
Mr Strickland: “[He would] talks about mossie bites and he would pinch you? It was playful? Done in a joking manner?”
Mr Shrestha answered yes to each question.
Mr Shrestha told the court that Mr Taylor had sometimes shouted at himself and at one of the alleged female victims, and that it was “good” when he was not there.
He said the woman had “started crying because [Mr Taylor] scream at her”.
Mr Taylor, former head chef at prestigious Bilson’s (now Quay), Buon Ricordo, a string of his own establishments and an exclusive caterer, was appearing at Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney.
Mr Taylor’s catering business has clients including Opera Australia, Sotheby’s, the NSW Art Gallery and Linfox.
The alleged incidents occurred during the party attended by up to 12 people including the two alleged victims, Mr Taylor and his partner, heiress Ashley Dawson-Damer sitting at the same table.
Senior Constable Michelle Le Breton told the Downing Centre Court on Monday that photographs taken by one of the women the day after the party showed “a bite mark of her arm, with a bruise”.
The general manager and event manager of Mr Taylor’s catering business, Heidi O’Connor, told the court the day after the Christmas party one of the alleged victims had spoken to her about the night before.
“She said that [Darren Taylor] had ‘tried to grab her boobs or had grabbed her boobs’,” Ms O’Connor said of her conversation with the woman.
Ms O’Connor said the second woman who was “very visibly upset” and “shaking and crying” had told her Mr Taylor had “tried to grab her breasts or had grabbed her breasts and had tried or had pulled the straps of her dress down,” she said
Ms O’Connor said that two days after the party the woman had texted Ms O’Connor and said “that he had bitten her on the arm”.
The text message was in the form of a photo of the woman’s arm.
Under cross-examination by Mr Strickland, Ms O’Connor agreed she had never seen Mr Taylor be disrespectful, or make racist, derogatory or sexualised comments.
Asked if anyone else had complained about his behaviour she said “just … about shouting”, but agreed he became “frustrated … if people don’t meet his high standards”.
Constable Le Breton, the officer in charge of a police investigation into Mr Taylor, said the woman had told him how Mr Taylor had addressed her and the other alleged victim together.
“[She] said he was saying things like ‘you both have beautiful breasts and I just want to touch them, want to grab them’ and then had grabbed the other woman’s breasts.”
The court heard Mr Taylor’s partner Ms Dawson-Damer had provided a statement about the evening, but that some of the people present, including restaurant industry workers, had refused to do so and had been subpoenaed.
The court heard that in a statement one of the alleged victims described Mr Taylor as giving a “long and loud speech” with “offensive and derogatory comments towards” the party’s attendees.
However, another person at the event agreed under cross-examination by Mr Strickland that everyone that the speech had been “jovial, gregarious, cheerful”.
She described Darren Taylor at the event as being “pretty merry”.
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Asked whether it was correct that she had never seen Mr Taylor behave inappropriately with anyone, Christine McAllister replied: “Correct.”
Ms McAllister said she had been with one of the alleged victims the day after the Christmas party and the woman had been crying.
“She told me that Darren had grabbed her breasts … that he’d pinched her on the arm.
“That he was saying to [the other alleged victim] ‘you have got a great rack’ or something like that.”
Under cross-examination by Mr Taylor’s counsel, Philip Strickland, SC, Constable Le Breton said one of the alleged victims had said she would take the accused to the Human Rights Commission seeking compensation.
Constable Le Breton agreed with Mr Strickland that one of the alleged victims had claimed to have seen Mr Taylor screaming at restaurant staff, making racist and derogatory remarks and threatening loss of their employment.
The hearing will continue in March next year.
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